Canis took the cake and ate it mechanically. Blood cake was something made as a treat. It was made from blood and honey and stiffened with meal then fried. He didn’t care for it much, but it didn’t taste bad. He didn’t taste this at all, though he did notice that the flavor wasn’t the same. He groaned and hung his head.
Cepheid knelt beside him and wrapped her arms around him. “Someone needs to watch over you at times like this.”
“We cannot both be away from camp at night. They will worry. Go on back. I will be fine.”
Cepheid stood and looked over at Rrusharr who lay a short distance away. “Watch over him. He will be helpless tonight.” She looked back at Canis. His shoulders hunched with another contraction and the metal shirt he wore glittered in the setting sun. She watched for a moment longer then did as he said.
When she reached the fire, Shania handed her a steaming bowl. “Why are we stopping so early? Is Canis’s arm bothering him?
“No, Canis is fine. His wounds are healed enough. We stopped early because we are soon to increase our number,” explained Cepheid with a smile she hoped would hide her worry.
Columbus overheard her words. “What do you mean, ‘we are about to increase our number’. He’s not trying to catch something out there is he,” he said, as he gazed of into the darkening landscape.
“No,” said Cepheid. “Rranggrr is in labor now. Canis watches over her.”
“Out there? Shouldn’t she be here with the rest of us? Wouldn’t she be safer here?” asked Wayne.
“It is better this way,” said Cepheid. “The…wolves always seek out an alone place to deliver. There are fewer distractions.”
That night, Wayne suspected that the delivery of wolf puppies was somehow more important than Cepheid was allowing it to seem. She and the white wolf, her almost constant shadow, paced just beyond the edge of the firelight until he changed his shift with Columbus, and when he woke again, before dawn, she was still pacing until she met Canis returning to camp with two tiny puppies in one arm and the folded oilcloth in the other. Even in the predawn poor lighting, he could see how pale Canis looked. Surely it wasn’t the birthing of a couple puppies that so disturbed him.
The sun was just beginning to touch the western horizon the next evening when disaster nearly found them. Coming at them from the south at a distance far enough away as to seem rash, a tiger charged directly at Cepheid who was riding near the middle of their long line of horses. Thumper threw herself sideways leaving the unprepared Cepheid in a heap on the ground. Star, who had been tied to her saddle, reared and screamed in alarm, breaking her lead and bolting away.
Canis, who had been ranging to the north, got the alert from Rrusharr who was ranging to the south. Rrusharr remembered the scent, but the tiger had come across their scent from the east and had begun its stalk between her and the road. Both of them were too far away to interfere with the attack. When Canis reached the road seconds later, the horses were in a panic as were the people who were struggling to maintain control of them. Rranggrr stood over Cepheid, as did Nnarr. The tiger, for the moment, stood at bay screaming its anger and frustration.
Canis drew his bow. “Stop,” he called and Rrusharr and Ggrrawrr both slid to a halt mid-charge so as to not interfere with his shot.
The tiger whirled to face this new threat and took Canis’s arrow high in the shoulder. Canis leapt from his plunging horse and took aim again as the tiger charged toward this new source of pain and threat.
Wayne watched in horror as Canis stood his ground and fired another arrow and then disappeared beneath the massive creature.
The whole scene was unnaturally still now that the tiger had stopped moving. Wayne was relieved to see that Canis was alive enough to start pushing the beast off himself. He grabbed a heavy paw and helped, then he pulled Canis to his feet. With the tiger laid out before them, he saw the last arrow buried almost its entire length under the beast’s jaw. “Are you injured?” he asked.
“No more than a few bruises, I think,” said Canis, then he saw Cepheid still lying on the ground where she had fallen. He ran to her. “Cepheid,” he gasped. He saw that blood stained the black patch at her temple. “Cepheid,” he called again and looked to Nnarr.
Cepheid was curled up around a now wriggling mass wrapped in her cloak and Rranggrr was nosing it anxiously.
Canis closed his eyes and rested a shaking hand on Cepheid’s head.
Wayne, who knelt at his shoulder, recognized what he did and looked into his face in surprise. “How is it you are a healer?” he hissed, but Canis was beyond hearing the question.
Cepheid unwound from her coil and opened her eyes before Canis was finished. She saw the alarm in Wayne’s eyes and knew what Canis must have done – must still be doing as she felt what could only be his touch explore through her body in search of further injury.
She reached up a hand and cupped Canis face. “Canis,” she said softly. When he didn’t answer, she glanced at Wayne. “He has no control over this and never remembers it. All he knows is that he can and so he does. Everything else is a blank. You cannot fault him for something he cannot control.”
Canis opened his eyes then and clasped Cepheid’s hand to his cheek with a sigh. “You are well then?” he said.
“I am now,” she sat up and unwound the cloak freeing the babies inside to the attention of their anxious mother. Since she had curled around them in her fall, they were uninjured, but now that they were awake, they were hungry, and Rranggrr was happy to oblige.
Canis looked around at what remained of their train. Columbus was nowhere to be seen, neither were the women, but the boys had managed to retain control of their packhorses at least, though the effort had pulled them from their mounts. They were several hundred yards away and making their way back to the road. Canis stood and said, “Round up the rest of the horses. Find Columbus and the women; they cannot be far.”
“Who are you talking to?” asked Wayne as he looked between Canis and Cepheid.
Canis only took Wayne’s shoulder and guided him back toward his horses. “We will not camp here.”
“But you just said to round up the horses,” said Wayne bewildered.
“I was not talking to you. Come.” When Wayne hesitated, he said, “I will not willingly explain. Be easy, and know that it works.”
Within the hour, Nnarr had found the women who had managed to stay on top of their panicked mounts. Columbus came back into view with all of his horses, and Rrusharr and Ggrrawrr rounded up the rest. Their damage assessment revealed only a few bruises, broken harness leads, and Thumper, who was still quite jumpy, had a small scratch on her rump. Neola went over all of them and found that Canis had suffered two cracked ribs from taking the dead weight of a tiger full on him. She also learned that Canis could heal and she questioned him extensively.
“Well,” she said, “perhaps it is just as well that we are going to the school. You can be tested there and receive your license. You could not be expected to have one if you come from so far away.”
“I do not want your license. The healing is a gift given to me only to carry and I will not carry it much longer. After that, your license will have no meaning.”
Neola was appalled. “The gift of healing is not a package to be set aside when you are tired of carrying it. The Mother drips the gift into our blood at birth and people such as me search the country for it so that people like those children can be brought to the school for proper training.”
“Neola, you and I can argue about this until the day we both die of old age. As far as I know, I am unique in this. My people had no healers among them until I carried this gift to them. Soon I will return to where I started and the Mother will decide who my burden will pass to. At that time, I will no longer be able to heal any better than Wayne can with a bandage or a needle. Keep your piece of paper, I will not need it.” Canis stood up and strode off into the dark leaving Neola gape-mouthed at the fire.
The next afternoon, they ca
me upon broken ground cut by flash floods and their path became twisted as they were forced to wind their way through such ravines. By evening, they came down into a small valley that had once been the site of a small town, but now it was nothing more than ancient smashed ruins on the banks of a river.
The next day was spent first by swimming the horses across the river, then by winding their way through the river valley. By the time they found the high road again, they had only covered perhaps five miles all day long.
Five days later, they spotted more ruins, and by noon of the next day, they had reached Port Daven on yet another river.
The Testing
They were ferried across to an island in the middle of one of the wider rivers Canis had ever contended with so far. He had crossed it before far south of here with Patro’s caravan and north of here too when he was heading west; hearing the word ‘Missip’ confirmed it.
The only island Canis had ever seen, not counting assorted gravel bars seen only when the water was low, looked to be at least two and a half miles long, and courtyards and gardens dominated its entire surface. Looming over it all was a massive stone structure – the healer’s school.
Parts of the building were four stories tall and other parts were only a single story; taken all together, it looked like a jumble of toy blocks.
The docks were full of barges unloading supplies, and today at least, there was a constant stream of wagons heading into the heart of the complex.
Neola and Columbus led them through the ordered chaos to a grand entrance where they left the horses in the care of men who came to take them. Inside, the new students were whisked away, and soon after, Wayne also left to take care of some private business elsewhere in the complex, that left Canis, Cepheid, and the Wulfen to follow Neola and Columbus deep into the maze of buildings.
Eventually they reached a central meeting chamber. The room was obviously used for much larger meetings, but at the moment, they were the only ones present.
“Please wait here,” said Neola and she left them.
Cepheid helped the puppies find the important part of their mother then she sat down on the floor near them to wait.
Canis explored the perimeter of the room studying the portraits of men and women hanging on the walls.
Columbus found a chair and sank into it.
A couple hours later, Neola returned with three other people: two men and a woman. They all looked to be the oldest people Canis had ever seen, though they didn’t carry themselves like they were old. They took seats behind a large desk and Neola went on into the room to stand in front of them. Columbus joined her and waved at Canis to stand with them.
As soon as Canis and Cepheid had joined the other two, Columbus made the introductions. “Masters and Mistress, may I introduce Canis and Cepheid who helped us cross the Empty Plains from Deemoin. Canis and Cepheid, these are Master Healer Gordon, Master Healer Rochester and Mistress Healer Madison. They are the council of our school and our society here on the island.”
Canis nodded as each of the elders were introduced, scrutinizing them for any sign that they might regret making them wait for so long – there was none. Columbus continued, “Masters, Mistress, I was forced to promise wages to Canis when we reached our destination because shortly before we met, our party was attacked by bandits and everything that was not on our persons was stolen. We had enough to restock for another trip, but not enough to pay Canis for his time and effort. And I must say, if it weren’t for Canis and his friends, our second foray would have failed just as miserably as the first.”
Reminded that he held the man’s necklace in lieu of said payment, Canis drew the necklace out from under his shirt and returned it to Columbus who accepted it and returned it to its former resting place.
“What kind of wages did you promise, Columbus?” asked Gordon. “Was it the wages of a mercenary or the wages of a guard?
“Numbers were not discussed,” said Columbus. “It was decided that the pay would be…fair.”
“Fair wages,” said Gordon. “What does that mean? Fair wages could be anything depending on who you ask.”
“That’s enough, Gordon,” said Madison. “We’ll hear the story. I’m sure we can come up with something agreeable to all of us. What troubles me is that Neola says he’s an unlicensed healer. That’s not so bad since apparently he traveled almost directly here from his home, but she tells me he refuses a license. This troubles me very much.”
So that’s why they took so long. “As I tried to explain to Neola…” started Canis.
“You will answer our questions when we ask them. Please be silent until then,” said Rochester. He had a surprisingly small voice.
Canis’s hackles rose immediately. I do not need this. All the Wulfen moved at once, and it was obvious that none of the elders had noticed any of them until then. Cepheid scooped up the puppies, and they all turned for the door.
Columbus caught Canis’s arm as he turned and Canis said, “Surely you know that it would not be wise to try and stop us. Keep your gold. I am glad we were able to get you here safely.” He followed the rest out of the room. Behind him, he could hear Columbus speaking, and it seemed that the volume of his words increased as the distance between them stretched.
Ggrrawrr led them out of the massive complex unerringly then he found their horses.
They were leading their horses across the courtyard toward the main gate when Columbus caught up with them. “Don’t go yet. They’re not used to being denied about such things, but I think they may listen to reason.”
“I do not see how they can listen to reason if they do not allow reason to be spoken,” said Canis. “We are headed east. We will find a campsite for tonight then we will be gone in the morning.”
“There is no road east of here,” said Columbus. “If you’re heading east, you need to take a boat north to Paul City or south to Louis City. From either of those two cities, you can head east again.”
“Are you telling me it is impossible to travel east from here?” asked Canis.
“Well, I don’t suppose anything would be impossible for you, but the route goes through an arm of the desert. Few people who venture there are ever heard from again.”
“Perhaps it is merely a crossing they decide not to make again,” suggested Canis.
“Mr. Canis,” called Madison from across the courtyard. When she reached them, she said, “Mr. Canis, we have come to a decision about you. If you will allow us to test you and if you pass that test, we will give you a pass as a healer. As a stranger to our laws, you cannot be held to them while you are here, but since you have come to this place, by accident or design, we can offer you a pass that will be good until you return to your home. Will this be acceptable to you? At least, with a pass, no one will trouble you about healing while you are here.”
“What is this test?” asked Canis guardedly.
“I must confess, the test we have for you is somewhat stiffer than usual, but Neola says you claim that the Mother heals through you. Surely, what we have will not be too difficult for the Mother,” said Madison. Canis did not like the tone in the woman’s voice.
“And if the Mother decides that your test subject does not deserve to be healed, what then?” asked Canis.
“Then we will purge the healing gift from you,” said Madison matter-of-factly.
“Who are you to decide whether a gift from the Mother can be taken from someone the Mother has chosen? I cannot comprehend the audacity that you believe you have the right to decide who can be a healer and who cannot. Perhaps you should visit one of her shrines. It has obviously been a long time since you have been properly thankful for the gift you have been given.” He turned to Ggrrawrr. “Stay here and guard my wife with your life. Rrusharr, with me.” He turned back to Madison. “Take me to this person in need of healing, but understand that if you try to take what has been entrusted to me, you may find yourself to be the one in need of healing.” Canis was very angry.
&nb
sp; Canis was fully aware of exactly how dangerous he was, and normally, anger wasn’t necessary. But when such danger was blatantly ignored, then there was no recourse but anger, especially when such ignorance put a friend in danger. He knew that if he were pushed to a fight, he would be fighting a man he had come to like, simply because it was his sworn duty to defend the healers. To be forced to kill Columbus would be such a waste.
Oblivious, Madison led them back into the building and into the eastern wing. Echoing down the long hall were various cries of pain or sorrow and hurrying up and down the hall were several men and women dressed in somber brown. She led them past all of the hushed noise and subdued bustle to a room with the shades drawn. In the darkened room, lay a man on a bed. The man was quiet, but the odor in the room spoke more of death than life.
Canis frowned. “What is this?”
Madison said, “I’m sorry, but we don’t know. This man came to us from the south. We don’t know how far south, but we believe very far south. We get people like him once in a while and we can do nothing for them except try to make them comfortable.”
Canis turned on the woman and glowered at her, his fierce icy eyes slitted in anger only inches from her blue ones. “You do not want me to pass your test, do you? Or is it that if I pass this test, you will take what I carry for yourself, and if I fail you will take it so that no one else will get it. Is that your plan?”
Madison backed up, gaping and working her mouth, trying in vane to come up with a proper response to such accusations.
Canis strode to the side of the bed. “Open the shades, Columbus. Please.” In the light from the window, he saw that the man who lay in the bed looked to be in the advanced stages of decomposition. The only sign of life was the fact that his chest still rose and fell, and breath still wheezed in and out. He had never seen such a thing. He wondered if even the Mother could cure this. He tried anyway.
Half-Breed Page 36
